Yesterday evening, I went over to my Aunt’s to do some yard work she had asked me to do, and one of my tasks was to clear out a flowerbed that had grown up into the likes of a small jungle. I knew this was probably the only time I would ever be given permission to weed-eat a flowerbed, and thus  I powered up my weed-eater and began demolishing everything in sight (note: it’s not as fun as it may sound). After a few minutes of this, the job was coming to a close. “Only a few more minutes, then I can head back to the house.” I told myself.

This pleasant outlook came to a screeching halt when I apparently disturbed a wasp’s nest of some kind (or that of some other stinging bug). All of  a sudden, my lip felt like it was on fire. I immediately dropped the trimmer (while it was still on), and began moving toward the front yard – all the while being stung again, and again. By the time I finally got away from whatever was chasing me, I was about halfway to my cousin’s pool – where I intended to go as a last resort. Thankfully, it turned out to be just one determined little wasp, rather than an entire swarm (though there was a very angry swarm of them flying all over the place in the very same spot where I was first stung).

My point behind all this? Stay away from sin. Just like a swarm of angry wasps, sin is hard to get away from once you’ve found yourself surrounded by it. In fact, the only way to be freed from it is to plunge headfirst into the blood of Jesus. No, unlike wasps, you can’t outrun it. You can’t hope that it will decide to just leave you alone. You’ve got to, without reserve, surrender your life to the One Who defeated sin.

You might think that sin will be fun, and for a while it might be; but sooner or later, you’ll get stung. And take my word for it, it hurts to get stung.